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Unappreciated Detail

I recently returned from a trip to Cambodia where I spent a few days exploring the ancient temples. It was an amazing trip, and I wholly recommend it to anyone interested in these types of excursions. One thing I noticed immediately about all of the temples was the level of detail put in to them.

To think that these were built hundreds, if not thousands, of years ago with no electricity or modern equipment is incredible.

What was equally impressive was that this detail could be found inside as well as outside the building that weren’t exactly small. I cannot imagine the thousands of man-hours it took to create these buildings (or the consequences for those who made a mistake on them). As I walked through these temples, I found myself thinking about a lesson I quickly learned in the startup world: focus on your core. At Startup Weekend, we often describe this as an MVP, or minimum viable product. Working for a small startup or a large organization, you have a finite amount of resources to build products and services for your customers. As you work on your product or service, remind yourself of what is necessary and what is superfluous. Without this focus, human and capital resources will quickly become scarce, much like the Khmer Empire.